Last night at the RSL Club in Blackburn in suburban Sydney, hard punching local cruiserweight Dominic Vea, 9-1 (7), retained his OPBF crown for the second time with a third round technical decision over 42 year old New Zealand man Bob Gassio, 11-12 (3).

Gassio rode an eight bout win streak coming into the contest but failed to make weight and lost his chance at the OPBF belt even if he had defeated Vea. Having fought at 221 pounds just 13 days previously, it's no surprise that the Auckland man could not get below 207 pounds at the weigh-in on Thursday.

Vea's only loss came at the hands of Daniel Ammann by majority decision for the Australian title two years ago, also at the Blackburn RSL Club, but was avenged in May of this year during a OPBF title defense.

Also on the bill, ex-Australian Light Middle and Middleweight Champion Josh "The Chainsaw" Clenshaw, 26-13 (13), outpointed Auckland based Pakistani Kashif Mumtaz, 3-7-1 (2), after eight rounds at super middle.

At Town Hall in Malvern, super middleweight Luke Maloney, 12-3 (0), had a tough challenge for the Victoria State title but pulled out a split decision against Frank Ciampa, 7-12-(3), to win his ninth straight contest.

Shannon McMahon, 15-3-1 (6), kept hold of his Victoria State Light Middle belt with an eight round UD against Auckland veteran Paz Viejo, 10-33-2 (1).